Can we inspire you with some "Dangerous Ideas"?
I’m curating SlamdaNcē’s Market Monday this year, and that's just the sort of ideas we will be covering!
First, a special announcement…
Later this week join me for a special (and free) zoom follow up… even if you missed the first part:
Thursday January 22nd at 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm GMT
Register: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/5uan43D9QR-hdcARdY6VCw
This is a follow up on my Show&Tell presentation last week: The NonDē approach to financing, revenue & overall sustainability, forthe ND50 and NonDē curious! I will continue the conversation and answer questions.
We will have a limit of 100 participants (and the last one had 4x as many) so… first come, first serve!
If you weren’t able to make the Show&Tell webinar, here are some notes from the meeting to give you an idea of what was discussed and where we’ll be picking up courtesy of :
As I initially said…
I’m curating SlamDaNcē’s Market Monday this year!
February 23rd in LA at the DGA Theater.
That’s just one month away. Some of your heads might already be doing a different a ‘dance. Spin that all around. Better make some additional plans, friend.
When the Slammers approached me, I objected to the nomenclature that it is a “market” day, but I was told their vernacular was deliberately ironic. I guess I am a bit slow on the uptake sometimes. Markets are for products, right? We are builders!
Okay, what I am curating is essentially Slamdance’s “industry” day — but I prefer to think of it more as a community day. The industry has failed us all. Or at least the Indie side and the Hollywood side of the industry has. They killed the market potential for art. It is only the people that still work ( I use “work” ironically… and figuretively).
When Slamdance’s Executive Director, Peter Baxter, approached me to curate the day, I immediately came up with the unifying topic of all that I want to discuss:
“The NonDē Way: Fun & Dangerous Ideas To Disrupt What Once Was “Indie” & To Separate From A Broken Corporate Film Industry”
It was one of those “plans laying around” that I had. If you’ve been reading HopeForFilm for awhile now, you probably recognize that Dangerous and Disruptive Ideas — and a forum for them — is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s super nice that Slamdance took me up on it. Others have said they would, but ultimately flaked. Slamdance does not seem inclined to waffle.
Here’s a pitch I posted three years ago.
In it I give 18 suggestions for such topics, and although I have fresher ideas now, all 18 original suggestions stand strong.
For Slamdance instead of hogging the mic, I am inviting the FilmStack community to participate; I am curating speakers, but hell, I could filibuster and hold the floor with one idea after or another myself. Seriously, I once got requested and delivered an 8 hour lecture on the state of film. Thank you ECAM, Madrid. If you want to buy a ticket to a future incarnation of that let me know. I' have been thinking of seeing if I could longer. Maybe 11 hours. But spread out over the months. Maybe as a gift for the paying subscribers. More on that later…
So NO eight hour lecture at Slamdance this year. Sorry to disappoint you!
But instead we are going to have…
a rapid fire series of ten minute declarations, rants, presentations, and heartfelt suggestions
on why we need our new cinema ecosystem
and what it can look like.
The hope is that people get radical. That they really do present dangerous ideas. That they dream big. That they aim for the north star. Think Utopian. Dream it. And be willing to burn it all down. The phoenix shall rise from their ashes! May the bridges we burn light our way. Even Rome wasn’t burt in a day.
Some of you just can’t get to LA though. I get it. And we’ve got you.
We will offer a virtual appetizer to get you all worked up!
I’ve also curated a group of those who also can’t get there and they are going to present their dangerous ideas on video (and in ten minutes or less). Twenty or so to start. That I will publish here. But maybe we can do even more? Maybe some of you have a dangerous idea or two up your sleeve. Ponder that will you? And we can discuss later. Let’s set a high bar for the IRL event with an awesome lead up of prerecorded disruption. And maybe we can keep it going after too, in that leaderless decentralized way that we favor here on FilmStack. Whaddayasay?
But what is Slamdance these days, anyways?
It is what you’ve always loved. It is the renegade. The Maverick. The home that gave Soderberg a nest when others had kicked him out. The one that launched Chris Nolan. And Director Bong too, at least in the States. It is the fest that I picked up a swell little film called The Vast Of Night in, back in my Amazon daze.
Well, long before the big shots were doing it, Slamdance got the hell out of Dodge Park City. As of last year, they are now in Los Angeles, focused in and around the DGA. And I hope you will come join us there this year. The reasons are endless, but here’s a couple key ones:
It remains artist run (all films decided by filmmakers)
It is committed to the discovery of new filmmakers and new ideas in filmmaking.
And most importantly: It’s accessible - festival passes are just $50 and the all day NonDē event is free with registration. YOU won’t go broke doing this dance. It isn’t driven by the sponsors’ desires.
Looking for more, I picked this up off of the Festival Forums newsletter; here are a few words about our partner on this effort, or rather to be specific, Slamdance and their Executive Director, Peter Baxter, who asked me to curate the day:
“The 2026 Slamdance Film Festival, the artist-led organization “by filmmakers, for filmmakers,” has unveiled its 2026 lineup. Celebrating its second year in Los Angeles, the festival continues to discover and champion industry-changing talent. The festival will run in-person from February 19 to 25, 2026, and virtually from February 24 to March 6, 2026, on the Slamdance Channel.
In-person accessible passes priced at $50 each, industry bulk passes, and Slamdance Channel subscriptions can be purchased now at https://slamdance.com/festival-passes/. Pass sales close on January 31st with individual ticketing going on sale February 1st.
The 2026 programming was selected from 10,000 submissions, 28% of which were submitted by LA area filmmakers. As in previous years, all films selected in the Narrative Features and Documentary Features competition categories are directorial debuts without U.S. distribution, with budgets of less than $1 million.
“At a moment when our industry is facing real uncertainty, Slamdance remains deeply committed to supporting filmmakers and bringing our community together,” said Peter Baxter, Co-founder of Slamdance. “This year’s Slamdance program celebrates filmmakers from across the globe and the discovery of new artists who shape our cultural future. By offering free industry programming and creating space for meaningful conversation, we’re supporting artists, sharing new ideas in filmmaking, and working together to strengthen independent film.”
Slamdance is proud to offer a diverse lineup of voices with 50% of the 2026 films helmed by female, trans, and non-binary directors and 41.4% of this year’s films are by BIPOC creators. In addition, 9.7% of Slamdance’s program is made by creators with visible and non-visible disabilities.”
I’ve participated at Slamdance before…
I think this is 2014:
And in 2024:
This was a lecture on Reimagining Film Festivals. Sign up for the Slamdance Channel and watch it here.
There’s much to love at Slamdance, but I aim to make NonDē day one no one will forget….
By the way… when I was finding these videos I stumbled on this series, and wow, how often do you get Neil Young, Jonathan Demme, and Paul Rachman in multiple helpings! Heroes on parade!
Bought my tickets, taking the ride. Can’t wait.
Thanks for the props Ted and it’s a great year to have you back at Slamdance for the 3rd time officially. Perfect timing, we’ve watched Nondē’s conversation expanding thanks to FilmStack and I think this movement can net results. It’s also really great that this in person Nondē / FilmStack event is happening in Los Angeles where so many talented filmmakers / actors / crew live and want to work in LA! Let’s preserve and redirect Hollywood by expanding and pushing the conversation and participation! Let’s Go!!!
Thanks also for posting the Slamdance Neil Young / Jonathan Demme talk I did a few years ago now. It was epic and there’s a great story: I purposely started the talk off with the idea of failure (without telling them), because I noticed in my pre interview research that in 1983 both Neil and Jonathan experienced the biggest failures of their careers. Jonathan was fired from SWING SHIFT starring Goldie Hawn and Neil was sued and later dropped from Geffen records for making a “non Neil Young” record. Within 2 years of these events Demme made “Stop Making Sense” followed by “Silence of the Lambs” and an Oscar win as best director. Neil had the biggest record of his career “Rust Never Sleeps” - From that jumping off point we had a great 2 hour conversation on being an artist and the importance of not fearing failure but rather embrace it in the arena of art meets commerce. The lessons and power it can bring forth are also career changing.
Again. Let’s gooooo!